Shoe-shining foot support



March l0, 1931. L. E. FRYE SHOE SHINING FOOT SUPPORT Filed 4July 25,1930 Patented Mar. 10, 1931 LEE E. FRYE, OF- SAN FRANCISGQiCALIFQRNIAsnoer-sfumare roo'r surron'r Application filed July 25, 19370. SerialNo.V 470,656.

My invention relates to improvements in foot supports for shoeshining'stands and th-e like wherein a foot rest, slidably mounted upona standard, is movable against the pressure of a spring to moveclampingmembers into clampingV engagement with the sole of a shoe placed uponthey foot rest.

The primary object of my invention is to provide an improved device toengage and support shoes while being shined'.

Another object is to provide an improved support wherein a foot rest ismoved by weight applied thereon to actuate clamping means intoengagement with the sole of al shoe to hold said shoe in proper positionupon the foot rest. f y

A further object is to provide an improved device of the characterdescribed provided with clamping means arranged to impart a resilientpressure upon opposite sides of the sol-e of a shoe without marring theshoe, and which automatically accommodates itself to soles of variouswidths.

Another object is to provide an improved support which is normallyrigidly held in a vertical operative position, and which may be tippedrearwardly to an inoperative position out of the Way.

A still further object is to provide an improved device of thevcharacter described of simple, rugged, and eficient operation, andembodying improved features of' construction. l

I accomplish these vand other objects-by means of the improved devicedisclosed in the drawings forming a part of the :present applicationwherein like characters of reference are used to designate similar partsthroughout the specification and drawings, and in which: i

Fig. 1 is a side elevation,'partly in vertical section of'my improvedshoe shining foot support;

' Fig. 2 is a front view, partly in section, of the device; f Y

Fig. 3 is a plan view of the device as shown in Fig. 1; and

Fig. 4 is an Y enlarged transverse section taken upon the line -l of 2inthe direcfl tion indicated. i v

Referring to the drawings, the numeral 1 is used to designate in generala hollow standard, preferably of rectangular cross section. The lowerend of the standard l is fitted over a post 2 secured upon a suitablebase 3. rEhe 55 post 2 is preferably of channel shapehaving` the flangesforwardly disposed, the edges of' the lower portions of saidi Hangesbeing parallel to theback of the post, as at 4, and the upper portionsof said flanges being inclined 6G rearwardly to the backof the? post, asat 5. Slots 6 are formed in the iange portions of the postte receive apin 7 carried by the standard l, said slots permittingA alimited slidingmovement of the standard relative G5 to they post wherebyy the standardmay be raised. above the vertical flange portionsr 4' and tippedrearwardly to be supported by the inclined portions 5 ofthe post.

A foot supporting member 8, preferably of 7 0 U-shaped form is slidablyvmounted in the upper portion of the standard l, the open end of the Umember extending outwardly from the top of the standard, and the sidesof said member forming a slidingfit with the sides off'said standard.' Afoot rest 9 is mounted upon the outer end of the member 8, preferablyupon forwardly ofset extensions 11 formed upon the upper ends of theside por`-. Y

tions of` the member 8. The member 9 is se slightly curved and inclinedupwardly to form a support. for the sole and instep of a shoev 12 placedthereon, and the rearward edge of said member 9 is extended slightlyrearwardly to engage the heel 13 of the shoe S5 and thereby 'define theproper position of the shoe upon the foot rest and preventing the shoevfrom sliding forwardly.

A spring 14 is mounted within the standard lbelow the member 8, saidspring being 9o seated upon a partition 16 within the stand? ard, andoperating to press the member 8 outwardly to a normal extended position,as indicated in full lines in Fig. 1 and in dotted lines in Fig. 2 ofthe drawings. The outward 95v movement .of the member 8 is limited bymeans of a screw 17 projecting into the standlgrd in the path of theclosed end of the meme er 8. f

A-par of clamping arms 18 are mounted ,100

upon the slidable member 8 and arranged to extend outwardly in divergingrelation at the sides of the foot rest 9. The arms 18 are preferablyformed from spring metal and are preferably hingedly connected to a pin19 extending between the side portions of the member 8 at a pointslightly above the closed end thereof. Rollers 21 are mounted within thesides of the standard 1 at the top thereof to engage the arms 18 andform rolling contact therewith as said arms are moved inwardly oroutwardly from the standard with the slidable member 8.

In operation, the base 8 is secured in any suitable manner in aconvenient location, preferably immediately in front of a seat to beoccupied by persons desiring to have their shoes shined, as in a shoeshining stand. Standards 1 and bases 3 are preferably mounted in pairsin front of each such seat with the posts 2 so disposed that thestandard 1 may be tipped rearwardly toward the seat in an out of the wayposition, as indicated in dott-ed lines in Fig. 1 of the drawings.

The spring 14 of each standard 1 normally operates to press the slidablemember 8 thereof to its eXtreme outwardly extending position as limitedby the screw 17, and as indicated in full lines in Fig. 1 and in dottedlines in Fig. 2 of the drawings. A person desiring to have his shoesshined places a foot upon the foot rest 9, as indicated in dotted lines,the sole of the shoe being disposed between the upwardly projecting endsof the arms 18. As weight is applied upon the foot rest 9, the member 8is pressed downwardly against the pressure of the spring 14 into thestandard 1, thereby causing the diverging arms 18 to be engaged by therollers 21 and pressed together as the member 8 moves downwardly.

As the arms 18 are moved downwardly past the rollers 21, the arms arefirst swung pivotally upon the pivot pin 19 to engage the sides of thesole of the shoe, and as the member 8 is moved further downwardly, thearms are pressed into firm engagement with the sole, the springresilience of the arms 18 operating to eXert a firm clamping pressurewithout injury to the sole of the shoe. As the arms 18 grip the sole,the diverging portions of the arms 18 limit the downward movement of thearms and member 8, the relative downward movement of the arms 18 andmember 8 depending upon the width of the shoe sole engaged and operatingto automatically obtain a firm clamping engagement with the soleregardless of the width of sole.

So long as weight is imposed upon the foot rest 9, the member 8 will beheld in depressed position andthe arms 18 will be held in clampingengagement with the shoe sole; thereby effectually holding the shoe inproper posii" tion upon the support. When the weight is lifted, themember 8 is returned to norma-l position by the spring 14 and the arms18 spring apart to release the shoe sole, thereby permitting the shoe tobe lifted freely from the support.

By lifting the standard 1 slightly relative to the post 2, the forwardside of the standard is raised to cle-ar the vertical edge i of thebase, thereby permitting the standard to be tipped rearwardly to restupon the inclined edges 5 and permit persons to approach or leave theseat without interference by the standard 1.

While I have illustrated and described what I now regard as thepreferred embodiment of my invention, the device is subject tomodification in numerous details of construction and arrangement. Itherefore do not wish to be restricted to the specific detailsillustrated and described, but desire to avail myself o-f allmodifications which may fall within the scope of the appended claims.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent is 1. A shoe shining foot support comprising ahollow standard; a member slidably mounted within the standard andextending outwardly from the upper end thereof; a foot rest upon theouter end of said member; clamping means connected to the slidablemember and diverging outwardly beyond the sides of the foot rest and thetop of the hollow standard spring means normally pressing the slidablemember and clamping means outwardly from the standard and yieldable topermit inward movement of said member and clamping means to operativeclamping position; and rollers mounted upon the upper end of thestandard to engage the diverging clamping means and move the same intoclamping engagement with a shoe on the support when the slidable memberis moved inwardly.

2. A shoe shining foot support comprising a hollow standard; a memberslidably mounted within the standard and extending outwardly from theupper end thereof; a foot rest upon the outer end of said member;clamping means connected to the slidable member and diverging outwardlybeyond the sides of the foot rest and the top of the hollow standardspringmeans normally pressing the slidable member and clamping meansoutwardly from the standard and yieldable to permit inward movement ofsaid member and clamping means to operative clamping position; and meansfor limiting the outward movement of the sliding member.

3. A shoe shining foot support comprising a hollow standard; a memberslidably mounted within the standard and extending outwardly from theupper end thereof; a foot rest upon the outer end of said member;clamping means connected to the slidable member and divergingoutwardly'beyond the sides of the foot rest and the top of the hollowstandard spring means normally pressing the slidable member and clampingmeans outwardly from the standard and yieldable to permit inwardmovement of said member and clamping means tooperative clampingposition; rollers mounted upon the upper end of the standard to engagethe clamping means and move the same into clamping engagement with ashoe on the support when the slidable member is moved inwardly toclamping position; and means for limiting the outward movement of thesliding member.

4. A shoe shining foot support comprising a hollow standard; a memberslidably mounted within the standard and extending outwardly from theupper end thereof; a foot rest upon the outer end of said slidingmember; clamping means comprising a pair of spring arms pivoted upon theslidable member within the standard and extending outwardly indiver-ging relation upon opposite sides of the foot rest; a springmounted within the standard in back of the slidable member to normallymove said member outwardly to a normal extended position, said springbeing eompressible to permit inward movement of said slidable member toa clamping position; and rollers mounted upon the standard on each sideof the topI thereof and engaging the outer sides of the clamping arms tospring the clamping arms toward the. foot rest and into clampingengagement with a shoe supported thereon, when the slidable member andclamping arms are moved inwardly into the standard.

In witness whereof7 I hereunto set my signature.

LEE E. FRYE.

